VIRGINIA BEACH

David Falls and his wife were celebrating a co-worker's nuptials in a Sandbridge house in October 2005 when the deck they were on collapsed.

Falls fractured a vertebra and ruptured his colon. He had to spend almost four months in the hospital. His wife was also injured.

On Friday, a judge ruled they will get the biggest chunk - nearly 40 percent - of a settlement against the beachfront home's owners and their insurance company, and that they can start collecting.

In total, 36 plaintiffs who had been injured in the collapse sued 2576 Sandfiddler Road property owners Earle and Patricia Mulrane and their insurance company. Their medical bills totaled more than $555,000.

The official settlement is $375,000, though the plaintiffs may not see the last $75,000, according to Norfolk attorney Robert E. Brown, who represents the Fallses.

Circuit Judge William R. "Buster" O'Brien entered an order in Virginia Beach Circuit Court on Friday that lays out the portions of the settlement each of the plaintiffs and their attorneys should receive.

Nearly $296,000 of the settlement is now on deposit at the Virginia Beach Circuit Court.

Amanda Hall and Kristopher Hoke had rented the home for their wedding. The third-floor deck buckled just as the couple was about to celebrate their first toast.

Some guests fell into the pool or onto a patio and suffered serious injuries. City officials later found that the deck had been nailed to the house instead of bolted to the frame.

The Mulranes' insurance company paid $300,000 toward the settlement - the amount of liability coverage they had purchased for the home.

O'Brien said during a hearing last year that he felt frustrated by the amount of the settlement because it didn't compensate the plaintiffs for the "horrendous injuries that are going to have a tremendous impact on the rest of their lives."

About $295,905 is now available for distribution, attorney Brown said. About $4,500 has already been spent on mediation costs.

The Mulranes are required to pay as much as $75,000 into a settlement fund for the victims by April 2013.

Norfolk attorney Todd Fiorella, who represented the Mulranes, said, " In this situation, they were victims just as much as anyone else."

The home was built long before the couple bought it in good faith, not knowing it had a construction defect, he said.

Jen McCaffery, (757) 222-5119, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com